VNU Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vol 29, No (2013) 24-29 Factors Affecting Job Satisfaction of Faculty Members Võ Văn Việt* University of Agriculture and Forestry Ho Chi Minh City, Linh Trung Ward, Thủ Đức District, Hồ Chí Minh City, Vietnam Received 01 September 2013 Revised 23 October 2013; Accepted 15 December 2013 Abstract: The purpose of this study is to determine the overall level of job satisfaction, and to examine factors affecting job satisfaction of faculty members at University of Agriculture and Forestry Ho Chi Minh City (UAF) A descriptive-correlational survey research design was applied to answer the research questions and test the study hypotheses Frequencies, percentages and appropriate summary statistics were computed for the demographic characteristics, factors of job satisfaction Correlation coefficients were calculated to assess relationships between the selected characteristics The descriptive analysis of the data indicates that the mean for the overall level of job satisfaction is 3.97 with a standard deviation of 909 The median and mode score is four This is indicative of an above average level of satisfaction; it appears as though the majority of the employees in the sample are satisfied with the nature of their job A stepwise multiple linear regression was performed to determine the best predictor of the dependent variable - overall job satisfaction The result showed that our independent variables (fiscal resources, personal growth and satisfaction, policy and administration) have accounted for 59% of the variance in the overall job satisfaction of faculty member Keyword: Job satisfaction; Job factors; Faculty member Introduction* define the basic framework of education Today’s higher education institution is an extremely complex social organization In effect, successful schools and universities lay on the important contributions of effort, involvement, of all teachers, tutors, or lecturers - a key resource within higher education institutions and his major role in achieving the objectives of the institution Moreover, lecturer’s roles are broad and challenging They not only have to give lectures, they are also expected to provide professional consultations, to conduct academic researches and to publish their findings so that the The economic development of nation has the close relationship with higher education and education fosters principles of equality and socialism in the context of Vietnam Education forms a support system for talents to excel in life It is the backbone of society Education gives us the knowledge of the world around us Education equips us with all that is needed to make our dreams come true Schools and universities (higher education institutions) _ * Tel: 84-9333948008 Email: vietvovan@yahoo.com 24 V.V Việt / VNU Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vol 29, No (2013) 24-29 university would benefit They also need to keep up with new knowledge, new technologies and new techniques in order to deliver the best to their students As humans, lecturers are also subject to problems of dissatisfaction at workplace If they are not satisfied, they may not be committed to deliver the best In addition, there is a possibility that their job performance may not achieve the target This would of course lead to other adverse effects to students and finally to the university Therefore, lecturer’s job satisfaction is crucial to effective schools (academic institutions) The socio-economic changes have put high pressure on Vietnam’s higher education system It led to an increase in social demand for higher education to prepare students for jobs in new and modern sectors When the demand for skilled labor grew rapidly many academic staffs left the profession to take up jobs elsewhere in the public and private sector Demand for academic staff in higher education has been increasing and been expected to continue to increase Academic staffs are the most important group of professionals for one nation’s future Therefore, it is crucial to find out if a large number of academic staffs are satisfied with their jobs Faculty members had varying needs and motivators and are needed determined When these needs and motivators are determined, school administrators can design and implement development plan to help meet the needs of faculty member, which will increase employee satisfaction and student satisfaction (Wittenauer, 1980) The purpose of this study was to explore the following general questions: What is the overall level of job satisfaction of faculty members? What are the differences in job satisfaction levels among faculty members based on biographical variables such as age, gender, highest degree earned, years of employed? 25 What relationships existed between the selected job factors and overall job satisfaction of faculty members? What measures to improve faculty member’s job satisfaction would be realistic? Methodology The research methodology used in the study was basically quantitative Specifically, a descriptive-correlational survey research design was applied According to Babbie (1998), the survey method’s purpose is to generalize from a sample to a population so that inferences can be made about some characteristics, attitude, or behavior of this population The survey was conducted at the University of Agriculture and Forestry located in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam The population of the study comprises of faculty members from all departments Since only one organization was surveyed, the researcher’s place of employment, generalizability from this convenience sample to employees outside of the target population is not recommended because of the lack of statistical random sampling in various organizations Data were collected by using a questionnaire The questionnaire consisted of two independent sections including sociodemographic profile questions, job satisfaction questions Job satisfaction questionaire was adapted from Castillo and Cano’s (1999), Three Factor Job Satisfaction Scale Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS® Version 18.0 for Windows) Correlation coefficients were calculated to assess relationships between the selected characteristics In this study, Pearson's r, sometimes called product-moment correlation, was used to determine the relationship between interval variables Point-biserial correlation was used when correlating an 26 V.V Việt / VNU Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vol 29, No (2013) 24-29 interval variable with a nominal variable (a true dichotomy) Multiple regression is a multivariate statistical technique that is used for studying the relationship between a single dependent variable and several independent variables In this study, multiple regression analysis was also used to test relationship of OJS with selected job factors Result and discussion 3.1 The overall level of job satisfaction of faculty members The overall level of job satisfaction of faculty members was assessed by using oneitem statement in the questionnaire which is “Considering all aspects of my job as a faculty member, my overall level of job satisfaction is…” A six-point Likert-Scale ranging from very dissatisfied (=1) to very Satisfied (=6) was used to record respondents feeling about their job The value of overall level of job satisfaction was determined by calculating a mean score of all responses to the abovementioned item Thus, the overall job satisfaction could range from to The job satisfaction amongst the sample of 203 faculty members is depicted in Table The result indicates the mean for the overall level of job satisfaction is 3.97 with a standard deviation of 909 The median and mode score is four Hence, it may be concluded that the overall level of job satisfaction of the sample is moderate The standard deviation is also not high, indicating that most faculty members experience moderate level of job satisfaction Table 1: Descriptive statistics (mean, std deviation) of job satisfaction Overall level of job satisfaction Fiscal resources Policy and administration Personal growth and satisfaction N 203 203 203 203 Mean 3.97 2.92 4.12 4.36 Std Deviation 91 84 80 57 Table 1: Descriptive statistics (mean, std deviation) of job satisfaction 3.2 The correlation of demographic variables with the OJS Pearson’ product moment correlation coefficients were calculated to measure the relationship between overall job satisfaction with demographic characteristics (age, years of work, educational level, position hold) of respondents Significant positive correlation was found between position of faculty member and overall job satisfaction (r=.141, p